


The Angel No One Could Truly See

by DontGetTooCloseItsDarkInside



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians-Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternative Universe-College/University, Anal Sex, Anxiety Disorder, Awkward!Nico, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fanboy!Nico, Frequent Nausea, Insecurity, Kissing, M/M, Nervous Vomiting, Percy is some sort of cross between classic bady boy and punk, Self Esteem Issues, Social Anxiety, probably at some point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-10
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-12 12:59:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2110767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DontGetTooCloseItsDarkInside/pseuds/DontGetTooCloseItsDarkInside
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico has suffered from depression and multiple anxiety disorders his entire life, and has found fictional characters and Tumblr to be proper replacements for friends. No one really gets him-despite the fact therapists have said they have his entire life. He's finally gotten to college and let him just say-he's surprised he actually finished high school due to his anxiety affecting his attendance so much. And he meets Percy Jackson who's supposedly a 'bad boy' but seems to understand him and get him more the anyone ever has before. And instead of trying to fix him like everyone else has-he  just likes Nico the way he is. And wants Nico to see himself in a equally as good light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> YES IM STARTING A NEW STORY BECAUSE I AM TRASH

Nico didn’t want to be here, that was for sure. He was one shitty pop song away from throwing his empty coke bottle at the speakers across the room and six feet to close to another living being. Not that he would ever actually throw the bottle-that would bring far too much attention to him. And well, the people could be closer (not that he wanted them to be) so he settled for what he was being given by seemingly merciless gods.

His sister had dragged him to this god forsaken party kicking and screaming quite literally against his will. Hazel told him that it wasn’t a ‘party’ rather a social gathering. But Nico was calling bullshit because this apartment had like two rooms and there was like forty five people in here and that was way too much for him. Especially because he didn’t know anyone here besides Hazel who had quickly abandoned him once had reached the couch and left him with a bottle of Coke.

That was two hours ago and now Nico’s bottle was empty and he just wanted to go home. He was extremely uncomfortable around all of these unfamiliar people, entirely convinced that everyone had stared at him at one point or another and was judging him for something or other. His hair, even though he had combed it into place as best as he could despite his sometimes wild curls. His clothes, even though he had picked out his cleanest shirt and tightest skinny jeans and nicest black sweater. His face even….well there wasn’t exactly much he could do for his facial structure. 

He casually brought his phone out of his pocket, with the constant anxiety that someone was making some kind of sny comment or someone was somehow looking over his shoulder even though he was sitting against a wall and seeing what he was doing. He quickly looked threw his contacts, which wasn’t all that hard, since the only ones he had on their were-Mom, Dad, Grandpapa, Bianca, Hazel, and a few other people, most of them older relatives, cousins or one of his two of his Tumblr friends before just closing it, deciding to give Hazel another half hour before calling her and demanding to be taken home.

He opened up his precious Tumblr app and smiled when he saw a few messages in his inbox. A few of them were asking his feelings about some misunderstood character-or character of which he claimed was misunderstood-or minor characters. And such and so. All he knew was that he was awkwardly smiling and fanboying a little as he typed out his answer about his favorite fictional character Nicholas Agostino and his sad, heartbreaking love for the greatest demigod of their time Perry Jefferson, who was very taken by his long time best friend Anabelle Chester. 

He was interrupted when someone sat down next to him in a way that could only be described as heavy. He immediately froze, his fingers hovering over the keypad for just a moment before quickly finishing up his sentence and clicking Post as it had been sent by a Anon. He swallowed the nervous lump in his throat and peeked up a bit. Only to see a pair of handsome, sparkling green eyes staring back at him. His eyes widened in complete alarm and reeled back a little, while also trying to look like he hadn’t at the same time. The guy just blinked at him as he awkwardly spluttered and blushed right as a great rush of anxiety ran up the back of his neck and down his back and a large feeling of nausea settled at the back of his throat and he was wondering where the nearest bathroom was because he might have to throw up.

“Hey.” The guy said.

Nico’s eyes widened even more and he looked the guy up and down in what he hoped was a discreet way. He was very tall, with long legs that were spread out before him and dressed in skin tight black jeans and long arms with muscled but lithe biceps folded behind his head. The back and sides of his head were cut very short, while the top and the front was long and thick, but not long enough that it fell in his eyes which were sea green and almost mischievous. He had very tan skin-like he had spent an entire summer out on the beach getting perfectly tanned. 

He wore a sleeveless black shirt, one of the kinds with no sides that showed off perfectly chiseled sides and a little bit of his abs. It was sporting some kind of sea design of skulls and dolphins and he wore leather clasp bracelets on both his wrists. He wore leather studded boots (even though it was the middle of August, like seriously) and had at least two tattoos that Nico could see. A big black trident on his inner forearm, and what appeared to be some kind of sea monster on the front part of his shoulder that went over the rest of his shoulder and possibly down his back. It was mostly black but here or there had touches of multiple shades of blue. 

“I like your tattoos.” Nico found himself saying. Which wasn’t what he was supposed to say. He wasn’t supposed to say anything. He was just planning on awkwardly nodding and muttering a ‘hello’ so quiet the guy couldn’t have possibly heard. He immediately blushed even more furiously; trying to avoid the guys gaze despite the fact the other male didn’t seem to want him too. 

The guy smirked at him, his green eyes twinkling in what he thought was amusement. “Thanks, babe. I like your sweater.” 

Nico frantically looked down at his plain black sweater. Apart from the fake brass buttons it was completely ordinary, so he thought the guy was making fun of him. Despite the fact the guy looked completely sincere, the slightest smirk that played on his lips convinced him his mental accession was correct. He ducked his head and tried to swallow the nauseous feeling that was growing more prominent. Of course that just made it worse. 

“I’m Percy Jackson,” the guy-Percy said. Nico saw him offering a hand and despite the fact he was sure Percy had been teasing him earlier he returned the firm, callused handshake. He had perfect hands, Nico noticed when they parted. He had always had a thing for hands. It was weird but well, not completely uncommon right? People thought other peoples hand were nice all the time, right? 

“N-Nico.” Nico stuttered out softly, Percy seemed to catch it though, because he nodded in acknowledgment before taking a sip of his drink, which smelled like rum even though it looked like coke. A rum and coke. That was his mother’s favorite drink.

God why was he thinking about his mom right now? 

Even as he thought it he made a mental note to call her later. And Bianca. And maybe even dad. Just to see how they were. He hoped they missed him as much as he missed them. Or was that weird to think? Was he supposed to miss them after only being away for a few days? 

“Nico,” Percy interrupted his inner monologue. “Nice name. So, Nico, how old are you?”

“Eighteen.” He muttered, not really looking at the green eyed Adonis. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to talk to the boy, really it wasn’t. He did want to talk to him. He was the first person who actually initiated conversation with him since he had moved besides Hazel. He hoped Percy didn’t think Nico wasn’t interested or him or didn’t want to talk to him. He just wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say or how to seem interesting or how to keep his attention.

Percy nodded and then volunteered. “I’m twenty one. You go to Pegasus by any chance?”

Nico looked up at that, eyes widening a little in surprise because yeah, he did go to Pegasus University, a small place in the center of Long Island, a quarter mile from his sisters apartment and five miles away from this apartment or at least it was somewhere near that distance. To be honest, Nico had been very surprised when he had gotten in. He had planned on going to community college-hell, he almost hadn’t even graduated high school on time, but they had seemed interested in him. Something about his extremely high test scores on everything since first grade and his also very high SAT scores. He almost hadn’t taken them, but Bianca had insisted. 

“Yeah.” He said, nodding. 

“Know anyone there yet?” Percy asked, and then flashed him a smirk and a blush that made his whole face burn. “Besides me of course.”

“Hazel Levesque.” Nico said. 

Percy raised a brow at that, seeming interested. “Hazel? What-oh.” Percy snapped his fingers and looked at him like Nico had tried to get something sneaky around him. “You’re her brother aren’t you?”

Nico nodded again, and so did Percy right after him.

“Yeah,” the guy said. “Hazel’s a really nice girl. And smart. She talks about you a lot. Unless-wait you are the brother that plays Mythomagic right?” 

Nico blushed bright red, completely dipping his head again as the nausea built up a little. Not enough that it made him anxious to make a possible route to a bathroom or at least a decent garbage can, but enough that he swallowed a few times and it went away a little bit. Great, now this impossibly cute guy-the first one like ever who had willingly spoke to him -was gonna laugh and walk away because his adolescent obsession.

“Yeah my friend Frank used to play that,” Percy said and scratched his head. “He used to try to get me into it, but I don’t know, I could never really figure out all those points and rules and shit, I guess I just didn’t have the brains for it at the time. Still probably don’t.”

“So um, what are you majoring in?” Nico asked, slowly growing more confident. Just slightly. And by this he meant his voice no longer wobbled as badly. Bianca had tried to teach him the right way to conversant with well, people his age because he hadn’t had much luck with doing so in high school. It wasn’t like he didn’t know how to talk to people, he did. He just had a hard time doing it, was all. Bianca had always understood that more than Hazel did, but he couldn’t really hold that against her. 

Percy smiled, appearing not to notice. “Marine Biology. What about you?”

“Um.” Nico said. “Psychology.”

Percy let out a long whistle. “Wow, calm down there smarty pants.” And then smirked before reaching out and rumbling his curls. “Looks like I got another genius on my hands. My ex-girlfriend is majoring in architecture and I fucking swear I didn’t understand any of the shit she has ever said to me about it.” 

Nico nodded awkwardly, he wanted to ask a little bit about Percy’s personal life, but really wasn’t sure how to without coming off as rude or bossy or like he was going to fast or seeming weird. Or was not asking about more personal stuff rude? He wasn’t sure, which was a bit pathetic. And it made him so angry that he didn’t know something trivial and common as asking someone questions. 

“But anyways!” Percy said suddenly, leaning close to him in a way that he rather liked. Percy was very warm-even from a short distance away. “I’m being rude just blabbering away. How did you get into psychology?”

Nico’s eyes widened a bit at that. No one had ever seemed interested in why he had gotten interested in the subject-besides his family and his therapist. He opened his mouth to respond-even if it would have been answered softly and stuttered most of the way-but was interrupted.

“Hey Perce, looked who just showed up!” 

Nico looked across the room with Percy to see a elfish looking Latino grinning widely and gesturing to a tall tanned girl with golden curls and gray eyes, dressed in a white dress, a diamond patterned blue sweater and white sandals. Percy smirked at the sight of her and held up a finger signing for a moment, he looked back at Nico who was looking at him expectantly. Well, it was all to a end now, Percy would leave to accompany the pretty blond and probably forget about Nico by tomorrow morning.

He was surprised.

“Can I have your number?”

Nico stared at him for a full minutes in complete confusion until the works registered in his head and he was frantically nodding his head. Percy smirked at that and offered him a blue sharpie and his hand. Nico blushed and held his hand cautiously with small, thin fingers, scribbling his name and number down. Percy’s hand was strong and obviously well worked but the top of his hand was surprisingly soft. He handed the Sharpie back with a small blush and Percy’s smirk widened before taking it and slipping it into his pocket before standing up.

“I’ll call you sometime, babe.” And then he walked away towards the elfish boy and the pretty blond girl who was raising her eyebrows at the boy who seemed to be her complete opposite in open amusement. 

Nico really, really hoped he would.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico reads fanficion,Percy likes Free! and they quickly bond over body pillows and Attack on Titan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you dont watch Free! you should because Free! is very important and should be thoroughly loved. As should Attack on Titan.

"I know I shouldn’t have just left you last night," Hazel said the next morning-or rather twelve pm. But really, what was the difference? "But my friend Piper was telling me all about this trip she took to Maui with her dad last month and she was showing me pictures and telling me about this cute guy she hooked up with and like _wow._ ” Hazel fluttered a hand in front of her face for a moment before composing herself and reaching across the table to touch his hand. “Did you have a hard time by yourself? I really am sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

 

Nico pursed his lips for a moment, but decided quickly to forgive his sister. Besides, if it wasn’t for her leaving, he never would have met Percy.  

 

“It was hard…at first.” He admitted. “But then I kinda met someone.”

 

Hazel’s eyes brightened up at that. “Really? Who was it? What did you guys talk about? Was everything alright?”

 

Nico nodded and ate a spoonful of his cereal. Coco pebbles and almond milk. He couldn’t eat regular milk since-well he didn’t want to even think about that. Now he settled for _Silks_ Almond or Coconut milk. (It tasted better than regular milk anyways) and was higher in calcium.

 

Which he kinda needed more of anyways, so he looked at it on the positive light like Bianca had always urged him to do despite being a naturally negative person when it came to himself.

 

“He said he knew you.” He took another bite, glad he had slept through the morning, because if he hadn’t he probably would have grown too anxious about the day ahead, which would result in him getting to nauseous to eat. “His name was Percy Jackson.”

 

Hazel’s spoon fell into her bowl of frosty flakes and whole milk. “What?” she asked, golden eyes widening.

 

Nico frowned at her, immediately feeling like he had done something wrong. “I um yeah…is that..I mean…”

 

Hazel quickly shook her head. “No, no it’s nothing you did it’s just that…well, I’m a little surprised Percy sat with you. I mean, he’s really, really nice guy really, even if he does have a bit of a rep…but he’s kind of a partier. I’m a bit shocked he actually took a moment to sit down and talk to another person who was sitting down.”

 

Hazel shot her brother a smile over the table to her brother in a poor attempt to calm the anxiety she knew ran through every vein in his body.  “That’s all, I swear,” she said, a hand over her heart. That calmed him quite a bit but still left him unable to finish the rest of his cereal. He nodded and picked up his bowl, emptying it into the sink.

 

“I’m just gonna go to my room and uh, read some stuff.” Nico said, avoiding her gaze. It was pretty much code for _I’m gonna be reading really kinky and or very heart felt supernatural slash so don’t interrupt and if you do at least knock because I’ll probably be jerking off._ Well unless he decided on Harry Potter, The Avengers, Attack on Titan, Free! or Teen Wolf or something else instead. Or most likely PJO or HOO stories, he sent a silent prayer that there was some new Nicholas and Perry fics.  Or Jace and Lee. Or Nicholas and Jace. Or Nicholas and Lee.

 

You know, whatever contained Nicholas getting some romance and actual affection.  He hurried away to his room at the end of the hall and closed and locked the door, knowing Hazel wouldn’t interrupt him.

 

He grabbed his gray laptop and threw himself down on his full bed, ignoring the few boxes that were still unpacked in the corner. That was the only good thing about having a sister who already went to the college and had her own apartment. No need to spend money on housing or living amongst a bunch of random, anxiety producing people.

 

He opened up his laptop and quickly logged into his AO3 account beaming brightly in the darkness of his windowless room when he saw he had three new reviews.  He read them over quickly and answered one questions before following the Nicholas Agostino/Perry Jefferson tag and squealed happily when he saw two new fics that were too his liking judging by the tags and a update to his favorite story.

 

He sat up on his elbows and clicked the link to open the story, his legs in the air and kicking back and forth a bit as he read the first line

 

_Nicholas hated it when Perry looked at him like that, like he slapped him across the face or something. Yet Perry was the one who had hurt him, so what gave him the right?_

Oh god, this was gonna be a heart breaking one, he just knew it. He pulled his blanket over his head and settled in for the day.

 

…………

Percy had just rolled out of bed and grabbed a box of blueberry pop tarts before going right back to bed when he got the text from Jason.

 

_Hey Perce, Hazel wants  to hang out tonight at her place, you wanna come?_

Percy yawns before re-reading it a few times before it fully registers. Hazel? He rubbed at his eyes and took a sip of the hot week old glass of whiskey that lay on his bedside table. He smacked  his lips and shrugged, downing the rest of it without a second thought.

 

There was something about Hazel…and last night…did he have sex with Hazel? Oh, no, no he would have remembered having sex and besides, she was dating Frank and he would never do that to a friend, no matter how much he loved sex or how drunk he was. Mm, the alcohol was making things more clear…and then he saw his hand, which helped some more until he was smiling at the memories that fogged his mind. A very pretty, very sad looking boy on his phone that had an anime character on the cover, with an empty bottle of Coke shoved between his small thighs.

 

So very pretty with his curled black hair, the blackest hair Percy had ever seen, and his pale skin, reminding him of the snow that was pure and white and untouched before someone would run through it. He was small and thin and had very, very beautiful eyes and when he blushed Percy’s always found himself wondering why. It was intriguing.

 

So yes, very pretty, but it had been his aura of sadness that had caught his attention even from across the room. And not just sadness. The boy was so obviously uncomfortable it was more distressing, literally distressing then awkward. He had looked like his phone was the only thing that was keeping him from throwing up and crying at the same time.

 

And Percy didn’t like that. He didn’t like it when innocent people like the boy so obviously was, were sad or lonely or upset. He had a rep with the sleeping around and the partying and the fighting, but Percy was still a good person inside. He tried to remind himself of that every once and a while when people treated him like a lost cause. He wasn’t though, _really_.  He had a good job. Well, good for a college kid and he got decent grades, most of which were low B’s, and he was graduating this year. So those were all wins, weren’t they? Yeah, yeah they were.

 

_Yeah I’m game. What time?_

_Seven thirty,_ was Jason’s quick response.

 

_Tell Haz I’ll be there._

………….

Percy had always liked Hazel’s apartment. He’s been over many a times because Hazel liked to play hostess and well, Percy and the rest of them enjoyed being hosted. It’s around the same size as his but its set up differently, when you first walk in there’s a small space that’s kinda dark where one kicks off their shoes and hangs up their coats before walking into the small kitchen.

 

Directly to the left was a living room that only has one window (the kitchen as two) Hazel had a bunch of love seats and arm chairs crammed together on one side of the room, then a wood coffee table and then a small flat screen on the opposite wall. And then a little ways down on the right to the kitchen was a doorway that leads to small hall that contains the bathroom, and the two bedrooms. And that was it. College living is hard, what can one say?

 

Hazel threw him a Coke the moment she opened the door for him. He caught it clumsilty and opened it, spilling three fourths of it into a tall cup and then adding some rum. It wasn’t the kinda he usually used, but it would do. He sat himself down in-between Calypso and Frank and put his feet up on the coffee table; she shot him a pursed lip look but didn’t comment just as she put her own feet up.  He took three sips of his drink and watched  about three minutes of _Two Fast Two Furious_ until he looked over at Hazel and asked,

 

“So where’s your brother?”

 

Hazel went still, but hardly long enough that anyone noticed before she turned and said, “In his room.”

 

“Oh.” Percy paused. “So can I-“ he faltered when he saw the amused look on his friends face, her eyebrows quirked up and her lips in a soft smirk.

 

“I guess.” She said, knowing what he was gonna ask. “But make sure you knock.”

 

Percy hopped to his feet, earning an amused chuckle from Hazel that looked off-putting while put with her look of warning. Like _aw you’re cute but if you do anything stupid I’ll rip your eyes out._ Percy got the message and headed down the hallway.

 

……..

 

Nico couldn’t even pretend that he wasn’t  crying because of this stupid story. It was fucking beautiful and it was so, so stupid because it was beautiful, you know? He had just read a heart wrenching tale about Perry picking up the habit of calling Nicholas _Nicky_ while still dating Annabel, which sent him into emotional terminal over losing his sister Beatrice and his mother because it had been what they had used to call him. Which had continued on to him feeling horrible about his sexuality, fearing what they would think of him.

 

 And then Jace had been there to comfort him while his best friends Pepper and Lee had watched in the background in confusion. And then there had a beautiful growing bond of friendship between the four of them, Pepper and Leon accepting Nicholas into their former trio of friendship with confusion but also with kindness and the need to understand. It had ended up with Pericholas, which had pleased him. But oh god, still the former pain lingered in his heart.

 

There was a knock on the door, which instantly made him freeze, because Hazel never knocked on his door unless it was locked, which he knew it wasn’t. He sniffed and sat up on the bed, snapping his laptop shut and shoving it under his pillow while also wiping at his face and trying to pat down his hair. He nearly tripped while getting off the rumbled sheets, but managed to catch himself. He swung the door open and nearly gasped when he did.

 

Percy Jackson was leaning against the threshold of his doorway, a small smirk on his face and his ankles crossed. His green eyes ranked over Nico’s watery and big brown eyes and rumbled appearance, but did nothing but smirk a bit wider.

 

“Hey there,” he greeted with the hints of a chuckle in his tone. “You look good.”  

 

Nico instantly became nervous, his face going pink even if he did want to see Percy, talk to him again; he wasn’t sure what to do. How to talk to him.

 

“T-thanks.” He stuttered, playing with his bangs nervously. Percy tipped his head at that, eyes a little curious.

 

“Welcome.” He said cheerfully.  “So I knew I said I was gonna call you,” Nico nodded, his eyes briefly going to his phone. “But Haz invited me and a couple of the others over.” Nico nodded again, trying to show his understanding. Or maybe that wasn’t necessary? Percy didn’t seem to mind. “Is that alright?”

 

Nico was gonna nod again, but thought that stupid. “Yeah.” He decided, holding the door open a little more. Percy’s smile widened a bit more before he walked in, moving out of the way so Nico could close the door.  


As soon as he turned back to his room he really wished he hadn’t allowed Percy into his room. Like really wished. He wanted to sink to the floor and curl into a ball and die.

 

Percy was carefully observing his _Free!_ Pillow and Matsuoka Rin and Eren Jaeger body pillows (He also had Levi, Jean, Nagisa, Rei, Haru and Makoto). Jesus, god, someone please kill him, he wanted death right now, please, please. At least his Marvel, Supernatural , Teen Wolf and dozens of other fandom related posters weren’t up yet, because if they were he would literally just have to kill himself.

 

Percy’s eyes flickered to the bed to him a few more times, Nico felt like he was gonna cry, he knew Percy was gonna make fun of him.

 

“I love _Free!_ ” Percy said instead.

 

Nico blinked, his mind clot with relief. “Y-you do?”

 

“Yeah,” he said, sitting on the edge of his bed. “My friend Piper made me watch the first few episodes and I really liked it.” Nico quickly pegged Percy as a  casual fan rather than well...what he did. “Don’t watch any other anima's though,” Yup, definitely not a fan boy, that was a good though, Nico could totally work with this. “So I wouldn’t know your other lil friend.” He said, giving a nod to Eren.

 

Nico’s eyes widened at that because _who didn’t know who Eren was?_

Percy chuckled faintly. “So judging by your expression…I’m supposed to know him?”

 

“Everyone knows Eren.” Nico blurted out, and then blushed when Percy looked up at him; head cocked to the side a bit. He reached out and patted the spot next to him.

 

“Tell me about him.” Percy urged, looking honestly interested.

 

Nico hesitated briefly but the excitement of talking to someone about Eren, someone totally unfamiliar with him, was exhilarating and he just needed to share the wonderfulness and emotions. So he plopped down next to Percy, crossed his legs and pulled Pillow Eren into his lap.

 

“Well I guess it all starts a hundred years before the preach in Shikishima and the fall of Wall Maria, these monsters they call Titans begin to appear and they eat people and-“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter Percy watches Attack on Titan and starts learning more about Nico's Fanboy life before school starts

**Author's Note:**

> I think this story is my new baby


End file.
